rec.autos.simulators

by **Dave Henri** » Fri, 20 Aug 1999 04:00:00

According to Computer Games Online, the AMA Superbike title by
Motorsims has gone gold. Online play is included but I believe after
the free first month, it will be a pay to play sim. I'm not sure how
that will do compared to the free online play of GPL(although that
seems, pretty quiet these days) and the upcomming free play for
Nascar3. However, I'm cautiously optimistic, they are claiming
big time physics and lots of controller options. I'm not sure how
much the Can Am sim is hinging on the success of AMA but I'm
hoping this title delivers. Online play right out of the box, and
the future use of the Engine by the SCCA CAN AM sim. Lets go!
dave henrie

by **John Walla** » Fri, 20 Aug 1999 04:00:00

>Online play right out of the box, and
>the future use of the Engine by the SCCA CAN AM sim. Lets go!

Let's go indeed - for the first month at least. If I want to pay to
race I'll get a kart and do it for real, why would I want to pay money
every time I want to race someone?

If "pay to race" constitutes a GPL like interface where we (the users)
do all the work of finding a race, organising participants, running
leagues etc then forget it - what are we paying for? If there a proper
setup like TEN then perhaps, but I don't see the need to pay money for
nothing in return.

Cheers!
John

by **Steve Blankenshi** » Fri, 20 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Just an aside to this thread. If you haven't had a look at the animated
intro avi. for AMA Superbikes, you might want to check it out. If their
in-game graphics look ANYwhere near that good, yikes! Get it at:

http://www.motorsims.com/standard/games/downloads/msi_intro.avi

Cheers,

Steve B.

by **Mark S. Mille** » Fri, 20 Aug 1999 04:00:00

> >Online play right out of the box, and
> >the future use of the Engine by the SCCA CAN AM sim. Lets go!

> Let's go indeed - for the first month at least. If I want to pay to
> race I'll get a kart and do it for real, why would I want to pay money
> every time I want to race someone?

> If "pay to race" constitutes a GPL like interface where we (the users)
> do all the work of finding a race, organising participants, running
> leagues etc then forget it - what are we paying for? If there a proper
> setup like TEN then perhaps, but I don't see the need to pay money for
> nothing in return.

We totally agree with you.

Our online service will *NOT* be a simple match-making system. There will be
open racing arenas - with races opening every 20-30 minutes - where you
build a rating. The goal is to always have a race at every track in every
class available - but we gotta figure out the load-balancing still once we
find out what tracks are popular.

Anyway ... once you're ranked, there will be racing series with prizes and
stuff. We agree that there needs to be value in the service. Also races will
be bracketed - once the players stratify, you won't have to worry about
trying to win against someone who quals 10 seconds faster than you, or
wading through people who qual 10 seconds slower.

We don't expect the users to do the work of building or hosting races -
that's why we're paying for this big honkin' T3 to UUNet. Show up, decide
what ya wanna race and where, then go do it. We'll also try to provide
enough racing stats to satisfy even the most compulsive players.

And it won't be "pay every time I want to race." It'll be a monthly
subscription - a cheap one. Plus there will be various enrollment plans to
cut the monthly down even more. Unlimited use for that fee - no per-hour
fee, no per-race fee. If you win something like a Voodoo3 card, that'll
almost pay for the year itself.

-MSM

--
__________________________________________________________________________
Mark S. Miller "Be regular and orderly in your life,
Director of Design that you may be *** and original
Motorsport Simulations in your work."

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

by Jo » Fri, 20 Aug 1999 04:00:00

What about for people who don't like using credit cards. Will there be
other payment options?

Joe McGinn
==========================================
Staff Writer for the Sports *** Network
http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/
==========================================

by **Reg Mucke** » Sat, 21 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Mark,
I emailed your tech support and found out that the real AMA riders will not
be in the game itself.My question is will real bikes be in the game as well as
real sponsors with correct team colors or is that out as well?And how difficult
will it be for the users to paint bikes and add the real riders?Game looks
awesome just wished to race Duhamel,Haydens,Chandler etc.

Mark Muckey

> > >Online play right out of the box, and
> > >the future use of the Engine by the SCCA CAN AM sim. Lets go!

> > Let's go indeed - for the first month at least. If I want to pay to
> > race I'll get a kart and do it for real, why would I want to pay money
> > every time I want to race someone?

> > If "pay to race" constitutes a GPL like interface where we (the users)
> > do all the work of finding a race, organising participants, running
> > leagues etc then forget it - what are we paying for? If there a proper
> > setup like TEN then perhaps, but I don't see the need to pay money for
> > nothing in return.

> We totally agree with you.

> Our online service will *NOT* be a simple match-making system. There will be
> open racing arenas - with races opening every 20-30 minutes - where you
> build a rating. The goal is to always have a race at every track in every
> class available - but we gotta figure out the load-balancing still once we
> find out what tracks are popular.

> Anyway ... once you're ranked, there will be racing series with prizes and
> stuff. We agree that there needs to be value in the service. Also races will
> be bracketed - once the players stratify, you won't have to worry about
> trying to win against someone who quals 10 seconds faster than you, or
> wading through people who qual 10 seconds slower.

> We don't expect the users to do the work of building or hosting races -
> that's why we're paying for this big honkin' T3 to UUNet. Show up, decide
> what ya wanna race and where, then go do it. We'll also try to provide
> enough racing stats to satisfy even the most compulsive players.

> And it won't be "pay every time I want to race." It'll be a monthly
> subscription - a cheap one. Plus there will be various enrollment plans to
> cut the monthly down even more. Unlimited use for that fee - no per-hour
> fee, no per-race fee. If you win something like a Voodoo3 card, that'll
> almost pay for the year itself.

> -MSM

> --
> __________________________________________________________________________
> Mark S. Miller "Be regular and orderly in your life,
> Director of Design that you may be *** and original
> Motorsport Simulations in your work."

> http://www.racesimcentral.net/

by **Mark S. Mille** » Sat, 21 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Yeah ... I think we'll support paying by check.

-MSM

--
__________________________________________________________________________
Mark S. Miller "Be regular and orderly in your life,
Director of Design that you may be *** and original
Motorsport Simulations in your work."

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

by **Mark S. Mille** » Sat, 21 Aug 1999 04:00:00

Well, the real riders aren't in the game, but they wrote the racing manual.

You can change the AI rider names to be whomever you like through a .ini
file ... race against Gobert, Chandler, Richard Nixon, Ross Perot, whoever
you like.

Team colors are on the bikes where we could ... you can colorize your
leathers.

-MSM

--
__________________________________________________________________________
Mark S. Miller "Be regular and orderly in your life,
Director of Design that you may be *** and original
Motorsport Simulations in your work."

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

rec.autos.simulators

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold

AMA Superbike goes gold